On February 12, 2016, The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Bureau announced the establishment of an Independent Team of Advisors to support Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Prof. Armida Alisjahbana, a professor from Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Padjadjaran and also a former director of CEDS UNPAD is appointed as one of its members.

She previously served as Minister of National Development Planning / Head of the National Development Planning Agency (BAPPENAS) in Indonesia (2009-2014). She has worked extensively as a researcher, consultant, and expert for international organizations, such as the UNU Institute for Advanced Study in Tokyo, the World Bank, ADB, AusAID, the European Commission, and ILO. She also held the position of the co-chair of the Global Partnership (2013-2014) alongside Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (Minister of Finance, Nigeria) and Ms. Justine Greening (Secretary of State for International Development, UK).

CEDS Researcher, Yangki Suara had a unique opportunity of speaking with Prof. Armida in her office at Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Padjadjaran, Jalan Cimandiri No. 6-8, Bandung, West Java. We discussed various topics related to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), her experience as the Former co-chair of Global Partnership, and her current activities as a director of SDGs Center at Universitas Padjadjaran.

What will be the main task of the independent team of advisor to UN ECOSOC?

The Independent Team of Advisor to the UN ECOSOC consists of fifteen
members including former president, former prime minister, former
ministers, academia, and representative from civil society organization
(CSO). This team led by two co-chairs, Mr. Juan Somavia of Chile (Former
Director-General of International Labour Organisation/ILO) and Mr.
Klaus Töpfer of Germany (Former Germany Federal Minister for the
Environment). The main task of the team is to provide a recommendation
to re-positioning the UN system to support the implementation of the
Agenda 2030 (Sustainable Development Goals/SDGs).

Why the UN System has to be re-positioned to support the implementation of the SDGs?

There are various reasons why the UN System has to be re-positioned
toward the implementation of the SDGs. First, from the SDGs itself and
from the existing structure of the UN. We know that SDGs is one of the
most ambitious development agendas with its 17 goals and 169 targets in
just 15 years. Including ending poverty and hunger, improving health and
education, promoting sustainable economic growth, making cities more
sustainable, combating climate change, protecting oceans and forests,
and strengthen global partnership for sustainable development. To
successfully in achieving its SDGs, we can’t rely on the existing
structure of the UN system and for some instances becoming more
bureaucratic compare to the UN structure in the 1980s. Therefore, the
re-positioning is needed to make sure that the new UN system can
accommodate the needs to implement the global agenda while maintaining
its good governance and its accountability.

Second, there has been a massive change in the global constellation
in the past decade. For example, some developing countries are now
classified as a member of emerging economies and least developed
countries. If in the past we heavily rely on funding for development
from developed countries (United States, Japan, United Kingdom), now
some emerging economies have contributed to financing the global
development agenda (e.g. China). In addition, new sources of funding
also come from the collaboration between private sector and the
government through public-private partnership, and also from private
individuals and communities.

Lastly, there has been a growing number of fragile countries in the
past decade as a result of an endless conflict, stretching from the
Sub-Saharan region / Northern Africa (Libya, Egypt, Sudan) to the Middle
East (Iraq, Syria, Yemen) all the way to Asia (Pakistan, Afghanistan).
The new UN system is needed to bring peace and security to those regions
and stay throughout the post-conflict recovery and development phase.
In short, the UN system should be re-positioned to make it fit with
SDGs.

When the recommendation of the independent teams will be discussed by the UN?

The work of the team will be submitted to the UN ECOSOC Bureau and it
will be deliberated during the 2016 UN General Assembly in September
this year. The agreements from this General Assembly will be the basis
for making the new UN development system fit for Agenda 2030 (SDGs).

You also became one of the co-chairs for the Global Partnership
between 2013 and 2014. Could you please explain the concept of the
Global Partnership as well as its position in the SDGs?

During the Global Partnership meeting, Indonesia as one of the
co-chairs of this meeting proposed the implementation of triangular
cooperation as an important link between North-South and South-South
cooperation facilitated by third actor from either multilateral
organisations or developed countries. This platform can be used as a
knowledge sharing not only between developed countries and developing
countries (North-South), but also between developing countries itself
(South-South) with a support and assistance from multilateral
organisations or other develop countries. The co-chair from Nigeria
(Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Minister of Finance) proposed the domestic
resources mobilisation. The reason is very simple, the developing
countries will not be able to go forward without domestic reforms, such
as tax reform. This will increase state revenue from tax and it can
reduce its dependency of foreign aid in building the country.

Ms. Justine Greening, Secretary of State for International
Development, co-chair from the UK suggested that it is also important to
collaborate with private sector to transform developing countries into
developed world, as we learned from the British experience. During the
meeting, we agreed that rather than carry on its own global agenda, the
Global Partnership will take part in the existing Post-2015 Development
Agenda under SDGs target number 17.

In your view, what is the biggest challenge in implementing SDGs in developing countries?

There are many challenges, especially for developing countries.
First, data availability. The availability of data is a key to monitor
the achievement of SDGs targets. Indonesia is very fortunate to have the
Central Statistics Agency (Badan Pusat Statistik/BPS) as a
reliable sources of statistical data provider in Indonesia. Second, the
substance of the development agenda itself. A vast majority of
developing countries is missing its MDGs which only consists of 8 goals,
and now SDGs is coming up with more targets and indicators than MDGS.
These are two biggest challenges in implementing SDGs in developing
world.

What is your expectation regarding the implementation of SDGs in Indonesia?

Based on my experiences in the government from 2009 to 2014 (as a
Minister of Development Planning / Head of BAPPENAS), it is important to
highlight that the government needs to collaborate with various
stakeholders, including academia, to achieve its MDGs targets, and now
SDGs. Therefore, I would expect the government to invite the
universities to play an active role in the implementation of SDGs in
Indonesia. We will not stand idly waiting for the call, in the next few
months, together with Dr. Arief Anshory Yusuf (Faculty of Economics and
Business), Dr. Suzy Anna (Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Sciences) and
Ade Kadarisman, M.Sc, MT (Faculty of Communication), and with a support from
Universitas Padjadjaran (UNPAD), we will launch the SDGs Center. Our
hope is that the SDGs Center can contribute actively in the
implementation of SDGs in Indonesia through various activities,
including; academic studies, trainings, regular seminars and workshops
by inviting experts from various disciplines on sustainable development.

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Center for Economics and Development Studies is a research center under the Department of Economics, Padjadjaran University, Indonesia. A leading research institute in Indonesia in the area of economics and development studies.